The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 120
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 121 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Song of Degrees. I lifted up mine eyes to the mountains, Whence my help shall come.
Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν. Ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου εἰς τὰ ὄρη, ὅθεν ἥξει ἡ βοήθειά μου.
...Let them "lift up their eyes to the hills whence cometh their help". What meaneth, The hills have been lightened? The San of righteousness hath already risen, the Gospel hath been already preached by the Apostles, the Scriptures have been preached, all the mysteries have been laid open, the veil hath been rent, the…
My help shall come from the Lord, Who made the heaven and the earth.
Ἡ βοήθειά μου παρὰ Κυρίου τοῦ ποιήσαντος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν.
Let not thy foot be moved; And let not thy keeper slumber.
Μὴ δῴης εἰς σάλον τὸν πόδα σου, μηδὲ νυστάξῃ ὁ φυλάσσων σε.
Sing therefore what follows; if you wish to hear how you may most securely set your feet on the steps, so that you may not be fatigued in that ascent, nor stumble and fall: pray in these words: "Suffer not my foot to be moved!". Whereby are feet moved; whereby was the foot of him who was in Paradise moved? But first…
Behold, he that keeps Israel Shall not slumber nor sleep.
Ἰδοὺ οὐ νυστάξει οὐδὲ ὑπνώσει ὁ φυλάσσων τὸν Ἰσραήλ.
Choose for yourself Him, who will neither sleep nor slumber, and your foot shall not be moved. God is never asleep: if you dost wish to have a keeper who never sleeps, choose God for your keeper. "Suffer not my feet to be moved," you say, well, very well: but He also says unto you, "Let not him that keeps you…
The Lord shall keep thee: The Lord is thy shelter upon thy right hand.
Κύριος φυλάξει σε, Κύριος σκέπη σου ἐπὶ χεῖρα δεξιάν σου.
Let us now come to this verse of the Psalm: "The Lord is thy defence upon the hand of thy right hand". By hand he meaneth power. How do we prove this? Because the power of God also is styled the hand of God...Whereof John saith, "He gave unto them power to become the sons of God." [John 1:12] Whence hast thou received…
The sun shall not burn thee by day, Neither the moon by night.
Ἡμέρας ὁ ἥλιος οὐ συγκαύσει σε, οὐδὲ ἡ σελήνη τὴν νύκτα.
"May the Lord shield thee upon the hand of thy right hand" (ver. 6). I have said, and I believe ye have recognised it. For had ye not recognised it, and that from the Scriptures, ye would not signify your understanding of it by your voices. Since then ye have understood, brethren, consider what followeth; wherefore…
May the Lord preserve thee from all evil: The Lord shall keep thy soul.
Κύριος φυλάξαι σε ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ, φυλάξει τὴν ψυχήν σου ὁ Κύριος.
"For the Lord shall preserve you from all evil". From offenses in the sun, from offenses in the moon, from all evil shall He preserve you, who is your defence upon the hand of your right hand, who will not sleep nor slumber. And for what reason? Because we are amid temptations: "The Lord shall preserve you from all…
"The Lord preserve your going out and your coming in, from this time forth for evermore". Not your body; for the Martyrs were consumed in the body: but "the Lord preserve your soul;" for the Martyrs yielded not up their souls. The persecutors raged against Crispina, whose birthday we are today celebrating; they were…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.